Artistic Schools in Sudan

The modern arts movement in Sudan was marked by scholarly tendencies. This artistic movement is characterised by a unified philosophical and thematic approach that views art as a product of thought and cultural activity. The various scholastic tendencies share a degree of unity in subject matter and the way artwork is treated.

The Khartoum School was the first scholastic movement and earned its name from the description of Jamaican fine arts professor Denis Williams. Its approach was not stylistic, but rather thematic, and it can be viewed as part of the Jungle and Desert Movement, which adopted the philosophy of the duality of Sudanese identity, represented by the jungle (Africanism) and the desert (Arabism). This is evident in the combination of symbols, shapes, patterns, and colours symbolising Africanism, blending with Arabic calligraphy among the artists of the Khartoum School.

Their artworks reflected the concerns and issues of cultural and national identity among intellectuals and scholars of that period. This was a natural reflection of the circumstances surrounding their creation, following independence from a colonial power and the beginning of the formation of the modern Sudanese state and its national, cultural, and patriotic identity.

Dr. Rashid Diab says that the Khartoum School was formed after its pioneers and founders returned from their postgraduate studies in the West, which led them to search for a national and patriotic cultural identity. This was shaped by the influence of Africanism, a trend prevalent at the time. Among the most distinguished artists of the Khartoum School were Ibrahim El-Salahi and Ahmed Shibreen.

Khartoum School was followed by the Crystal School. Its philosophy is summarised in the unity of the universe, creation, and transparency. The school’s statement, which is signed by Kamala Ibrahim Ishaq, Naila El-Tayeb, and Mohamed Hamed Shaddad, stated that they prefer vision over craftsmanship and even oppose the popular movement that calls for making craftsmanship the standard.

Crystalism adopts a dualistic approach to vision—represented by seeing things through a crystal—which symbolises the nature of the universe and existence, as the Crystal artists pointed out. Through this dualistic view, Crystalism denies the essential nature of things. This internal and external duality creates a continuous cycle of intermingling between the inner and outer, the apparent and the hidden, the public and the personal, a phenomenon that can be observed in the works of artist Kamala Ishaq.

Building on the gains of previous school trends, the Wahid School emerged as a movement expressing Afro-Arabism while emphasising Islamic identity, deriving its inspiration and aesthetic objectives from divine monotheism. It emerged in 1988 under the leadership of artist Ahmed Abdel Aal, and its manifesto was signed by Ibrahim Muhammad Al-Awam, Muhammad Hassan Al-Faki, Muhammad Abdullah Otaibi, and Ahmed Hamed Al-Arabi.

The manifesto stated that artistic creativity has no value without a cultural foundation. From this perspective, the signatories believe that their artistic approach draws on the Islamic religion as a cultural heritage from which they derive their creativity.

The strong influence of the Khartoum School and the Crystal Movement can be discerned in the works of the Wahid School’s artists through their use of Arabic calligraphy, as in the Khartoum School, and their philosophy, which adopts a holistic concept of the universe that recognises the interconnectedness of time and place, past and present.

The scholastic approach has ended and been replaced by the movement approach, which Dr. Abdullah Bula describes as indicative of diversity and the legitimacy of difference. One of the most important artistic movements is the aesthetic movement, whose most important founders include Dr. Abdullah Bula himself and Dr. Hassan Musa, among others.

Note: The photographs are sourced from open sources, and all credit is attributed to the artists and the owners of their respective archives.

Sources:

• A Century of Modern Visual Arts in Sudan – Dr. Mohammad Abd Al-Rahman Hassan
• Fine Art in Sudan – Dr. Rashid Diab
• Features of the Artistic Traits in the Sudanese School – Omnia Mamdouh Youssef Mohammad